Still Learning
by anelson21
Summary: While Barry Allen did make the offhand comment about his blood sugar, he wasn't the kind of person to make a big deal out of it. So what if he had to do the equivalent of what amounted to 'eat all the freaking time? The other team members had their own problems, and he wasn't about to bother them with his, considering how trivial they seemed compared to the others'.


**Author's Note: Just saw Justice League a few days ago, and this one-shot was written that same night, born of sleep deprivation and a few comments from the movie. Sorry if there are any medical facts wrong. Sorry if there are any discrepancies in the story or the characters are OOC. As always, reviews are coveted and make me happy! And as always, I do not own anything.**

 **i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i**

While Barry Allen did make the offhand comment about his blood sugar, he wasn't the kind of person to make a big deal out of it.

So what if he had to do the equivalent of what amounted to 'eat all the freaking time'? The other team members had their own problems, and he wasn't about to bother them with his, considering how trivial they seemed compared to the others'.

Sure, he got hurt occasionally, but compared to the others, he had it easy. He was basically damage control during battles, and he knew the team considered him too out of control, too volatile to really be entrusted with anything important.

Rather, that's what he knew to be true of himself. That's how he rationalized it. After being on his own and looking out for himself for so long, perhaps he had forgotten what it felt like to be looked after.

The truth was quite different. The other members of the Justice League had basically taken the equivalent of an unspoken oath to protect the innocent kid as much as they could.

And as much as they made fun of him for being a klutz, Barry knew they cared. Even if their way of showing it was a bit screwed.

Bruce made fun of him for being the human equivalent of a black hole, and really, it wasn't too much of a stretch. Even he didn't know where he put all the food sometimes.

Fortunately, if he didn't have any food handy, it took the effects of his ravenous metabolism a little while to catch up to him.

Currently he was sitting in the Bat Cave, flopped lazily over the couch as the team discussed something with growing intensity. They had just finished fighting one of the biggest guys Barry had ever seen, and that was saying something, considering all the crap he'd been through in these short six months.

His stomach growled, and he patted it lazily, mentally promising to find some food later. He had cleaned out the billionaire's pantry the last time he was here, and he was sure that Bruce hadn't had the chance to restock yet. And besides, as soon as Bruce figured out where the baddy was, they were moving out. They had weakened this guy enough to where they had a chance of defeating him. Barry couldn't afford to slow them down now.

He glanced over at the team, still arguing over the finer points of their tracking system and battle plan, and mentally sighed, bringing a slightly shaking hand up to drape across his forehead. He should probably be paying more attention.

He tried to tune his ears in, and the argument increased in volume. Well, it was probably too late to start listening anyway. Who ever thought it would be a good idea to put Aquaman and Batman in the same room was beyond Barry. The Bat Cave could barely hold Bruce's massive ego as it was. To throw Arthur into the mix as well….

His fingers began drumming a restless beat on his stomach as his mind wandered. Food. Food sounded good right about now. He could have been out and back with food by now. He would go get some now except…

He glanced over, trying to ascertain if the team was any closer to solving the tracking problem than they had been thirty minutes ago. Oh well, it was too late now. He had missed the golden window of opportunity. They could figure it out any minute now. He couldn't leave.

The 25 year old felt his heartbeat pick up and a wave of fatigue wash over him and briefly debated asking Bruce if he had any food stashed around He _really_ needed some calories right about now.

He immediately dismissed the idea. The team was busy doing important stuff. He wasn't about to bother them with his weaknesses. They knew about enough of them already, he didn't need to whine about his shortcomings.

Another few minutes, another few waves of fatigue that left him shaking, and Barry might have been starting to reconsider.

"Oh!" Bruce exclaimed suddenly from where he was hunched near the holoscreen, shooting to a standing position with far too much energy for someone who had just gotten their butt handed to them an hour or so ago. "Got it! Everyone gear up! We're moving out!"

Barry felt a rush of adrenaline and stood, eyes bright, the headache that had started to form all but forgotten. Only to stagger to the side a moment later as wave of dizziness swamped him, crashing over his head and threatening to pull him under.

He blinked away the back spots in his vision by pure force of will alone, and straightened. He was fine, he was fine, _he was fine._

The team was turned away, gathering various weapons and making their way toward the launching pad.

Diana noticed his absence first and glanced back, curious. "Coming, Barry?"

He nodded forcefully. "Coming, sorry." He gave his cheesiest grin.

She turned away, smiling, and Barry's own forced smile dropped. He brought his hands up and held them out, trying to gauge just how much of his body was trying to digest itself. They were shaking violently, and he fisted them at his side, vehemently denying the obvious.

 _Not now, not now, not now,_ _ **not now.**_

Too late, he remembered that he had had to skip lunch. It was fast approaching supper, and he hadn't even had any snacks since breakfast.

He took a step forward, closing his eyes tight as the borderline violent pounding of his heart became even more pronounced. He couldn't do this to them. He couldn't bail on them. This was way more important than him.

Diana materialized at his side, head tilted to catch his eye, eyebrows furrowed. "You okay, Barry?" she sounded concerned. "You look pale. And you're shaking."

Barry nodded, maybe a touch too many times. "F-fine." He forced his voice to steady. "I am one hundred percent a-okay."

Diana didn't look convinced.

Bruce materialized at the door, helmet donned. "What's the hold up?"

Diana turned. "It's Barry, I do not think he is-"

Time seemed to slow down. Barry was fully aware of the way his knees buckled as his body finally gave out, of the thump they made hitting the hard floor. He was also fully aware of the way Diana caught him, lowering him gently to the floor, mouth moving with words he couldn't make out.

Bruce appeared above him as well, cowl abandoned, brown eyes concerned and just a touch frantic.

Sounds filtered in slowly.

"Kid, can you hear me? _Barry_ -"

"I didn't think he was hurt-"

"He didn't say anything about injuries-"

Bruce's eyes widened, sudden understanding dawning on his features, and he muttered a curse as he stood. "His blood sugar."

And Barry's mind chose that moment to pass into blissful darkness.

 **i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i**

When Barry woke, it was to something soft, wrapped around him securely and tucked in all the right places to form the perfect cocoon.

He hummed contentedly, thoughts hazy, and shifted so that he was laying more comfortably on the surface he was resting on. It was soft, which was surprising, for some reason. Hadn't he been laying on something hard just a moment ago….?

He shifted again, struggling to gather his thoughts, and a hand pressed to his forehead, smoothing his hair back gently in a way that brought back memories of his mother soothing away a nightmare.

He struggled to open his eyes, lids feeling as if they weighed a thousand pounds. "Whaaaat….?" he murmured intelligently as the blurry shapes around him began to condense into actual objects.

A soft voice shushed him, hand still smoothing his hair, and Barry glanced up, meeting the concerned eyes of Diana. His pillow shifted, and Barry squeaked slightly as he realized that his pillow was really the lap of the Amazon Warrior. He pushed at the blanket covering him, trying weakly to scramble back on the narrow couch.

"I'm sorry," he sputtered, eyes wide and still trying to escape the confines of the cover. "I didn't mean to…..fall asleep on you or whatever I did. I'll just….." He finally got an arm free of the blanket and tried to push himself back.

Diana grabbed his shoulder gently before he could go anywhere, and Barry glanced up again at the concerned face of the Amazon.

"You...do not know what happened?" she queried, head tilted slightly to the side.

Barry stopped, wracking his memory. "Uhhh, were we watching a movie and I fell asleep? Because if so, I am _so_ sorry. I'm really not in control of where I fall asleep it just kind of _happens-"_

Bruce's voice suddenly piped up, ringing through the spacious room, and Barry jerked to meet the eyes of the older man.

"Short term memory loss can be a side effect," he stated, casually leaning against the doorway leading to the kitchen. "Not expected, but not unusual." He fixed Barry with an unusually intense stare. "You gave us a scare, kid."

Barry, who was thoroughly confused by now, blinked. "I did? What happened? Am I hurt?" He looked down at himself frantically as if to ascertain if he was mortally wounded.

Bruce chuckled. "You're not hurt, kid. You just had a low blood sugar induced black-out. I had to stick you with glucagon." He huffed, then grew serious. "You should have told us you needed to eat."

Barry lowered his gaze, the memories returning with the stimulus. "I didn't," he hesitated, then finished in a mumble. "think it was important. We had a mission." He sat up abruptly, eyes wide. "Holy crap, the mission!" He tried to scramble to his feet, only to be held still by Diana once more.

Bruce nodded at her, and she released him reluctantly, watching his every move intently as if afraid he was going to fall over.

The 25 year old stood, mind racing. "But...the mission. What happened?"

Bruce stepped toward him, hand held out placatingly. "Hey, calm down. It's fine. We just delayed it a bit."

"But-" Barry sputtered. "It was important! We weakened him and you just threw our chance at defeating him away! You should have left me, I'm not _that_ important!"

Bruce's expression turned stern, and Barry knew he had said something wrong. The billionaire closed the gap between them, stepping closer until he was staring down at the younger man.

"Barry," he started, voice low. "You _are_ important. What made you think you weren't?"

Barry stopped his gaze to stare intently at the ground, at a loss for an answer. "I don't….I don't know," he mumbled. "I guess it's just because I'm the youngest and I _know_ I'm inexperienced and sometimes I screw things up so I'm still trying to figure this whole team thing out and-"

Strong arms wrapped around him suddenly, and Barry stiffened. _Bruce Wayne was hugging him. Freaking Bruce Wayne was freaking hugging him._

He blinked for a few moments, at a loss, then relaxed, letting his own arms wind around the billionaire.

Bruce pulled back after a few moments and tilted his head to catch the younger man's eye. "You matter, Barry. Don't let anyone tell you different. You have helped us out of situations time and again. We're _all_ trying to figure out this team thing." He smiled.

Diana appeared beside him, hand landing on his shoulder and a gentle smile gracing her features.

A gruff voice suddenly beside them, and Barry's gaze whipped to Arthur. "I'm not touching you," he intoned. "Just...make sure to tell us when you need something. You're just as much a part of this team as I am." His features twisted to form a haughty expression. "And I _am_ pretty important."

An awkward pat on his back, and Barry looked over to see Victor, who gave him a grave nod, as stoic as usual.

Barry smiled at his team. "Thanks, guys. I guess we're all still learning, huh."

And if that warm feeling curling through his chest felt like a little bit of love for his teammates, he wasn't about to deny it. He finally had the family he had always dreamed about, even if they weren't what he had always imagined.

After that, the pantry was never empty.


End file.
